There's nothing like some exploitive and fact free propaganda to bring Republicans together in mindless cheering against a phantom and revisionist enemy. On Thursday's final night of the Republican National Convention, the RNC broadcast what was billed as a tribute to 9/11 victims, but by tying in the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis and the Iraq invasion and occupation, resembled more a propaganda news reel that exploited horribly the memories of the victims and heroes of 9/11. Jeffrey Feldman:
No doubt, showing a 9/11 video at a political convention was emotional exploitation. But it was also something much worse: it was blatant historical revisionism. It was a cynical attempt to claim attacks on Americans--1979 and 2001--were carried out by the same 'enemy.'
What Olbermann should have apologized for was MSNBC accidental transformation of their network into a mechanism of the most cynical kind of Orwellian propaganda.
John McCain did not make the link between 9/11 and Iran in his RNC speech, but we can be certain that the video 'tribute' is a sign of what is to come on the campaign trail between now and November.
The media's responsibility from this point forward is clear: either they can sit back and let McCain's historical revisionism stand or they can move quickly to debunk it.
Either way, it seems apparent that major broadcast outlets need to take a more proactive role in pre-screening for blatant historical inaccuracies any video a political party plans to show during a national broadcast--or at least preparing to immediately debunk politically motivated inaccuracies.
So Media--you lazy ass, dismissive-of-blogs-who-do-your-job-better-than-you, monolith of bias? The onus is on you to set the record straight.
As for Olbermann, he promises a Special Comment next week on this subject.
